Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James

We have had sunshiny weather all last week, excluding yesterday. It is amazing the effect the weather has on people and I include myself in that. The neighbours have been hanging out on the green that sits in the middle of our group of houses. I have been having lots of chat and my little man has been getting plenty of exercise running about with the other kiddies. The social element is as uplifting as the sunshine.

Today all four of us went to the park and the Botanic Gardens, hubby, son, mother and me . We had a wonderful time, just strolling in the sunshine and smiling at people. We had an interesting conversation with an old man who said the sunny weather just made him want to talk to people. I knew exactly what he meant!

We got talking to another mother who had a little girl about the same age as our son and a new born baby, seven weeks old. She was forty four. It's nice to know there are other people out there who have managed to have babies in their fourth decade of life.

Yesterday was the odd day out in recent times as it was dull and dreary. The garden cats looked bedraggledly forlorn as they gathered outside for their mealtimes. The green in front of our houses was sorrily empty. There was nobody except ourselves to talk to.

As the week comes to an end and another one begins, I am excited about what it will bring. Hopefully more sunny afternoons.............

All the best to you!

Do All Mums do this?

Song is what feelings sound like. ~Author Unknown

I don't know if it's just me or if it's something that all mothers do.

Since my little boy came into the world, I find myself singing songs and directing them all at him. When I was a younger, more starry eyed girlie, the songs would automatically bring my significant other to mind. I would sing along to soppy love songs thinking only of him.

Now I think of my little boy who truly is the 'sunshine of my life'

As young or old as you feel

You are as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair. ~Douglas MacArthur

I started a beginners yoga class last week. It is something I have been interested in doing for a while but have not made the effort to do. I had tried some classes with my brother and his wife many years ago but had felt self conscious and out of place at that time.

Since I have restarted my practice of positive thinking and put into practice some of the Laws of Attraction (google it if you don't know what I mean!), it's amazing how things I want are coming my way. Okay, I did not want the sciatica that I have mysteriously developed but if I hadn't had that and mentioned it to my neighbour, then she might not have mentioned the yoga class to me.

My neighbour is in her sixties though you wouldn't guess it and amazingly our yoga teacher is in in her seventies. I was stunned by this information as she looks much much younger. She started to talk about something she had done fifty years ago and I am sure my mouth fell open. I have since heard that she has a son in her fifities and a mother in her nineties. The classes are relaxing, interesting and totally suitable for a forty something beginner with back problems. The classes are a mixture of Hatha and remedial yoga and there is a creche attached so my little man gets an hour and a half of play with other children his own age.

The most interesting thing for me though, is that our teacher only started yoga in her forties. She positively radiates health and warmth to everyone in the room. I aspire to be like that at this age, never mind when I am in my seventies!

I came to most things later in life than a lot of my peers, including carving out a decent career. I know now that this had to do with my lack of self esteem and self worth. In my late thirties after doing some work on myself, I learned to drive and swim, overcame dental phobia and started my own dogwalking and petsitting business (on hold for the moment). The confidence surge from doing all this and from practicing positivity has now led me onto this next wonderful stage.

I always thought once you hit forty, the interesting parts of life were pretty much over! I am thrilled to find that is far from the case. I only have to look at myself as an example. I am a forty something first time mum (on career break from great job), blogger, business person, phobic killer, yoga student and hopefully a life long learner!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5ZacH2LaIE&feature=player_embedded

All the best to you. Positive. Positive. Positive.

Playgrounds in Dublin and wrath of vandalism

http://dublinbynumbers.com/blog/vandalism-of-dublin-playgrounds/trackback

http://www.dublinblog.ie/2010/04/29/playtime-in-dublin-an-occasional-series/#comments

Creation|Collaboration: Collaboration Women Wednesday Blog Hop - Week 5

Creation|Collaboration: Collaboration Women Wednesday Blog Hop - Week 5

Fruit tastes nicer on a cake!

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ~Jim Davis

While on a quest to feed my two and a half year old son healthy foods, I am trying to eat more fruit and vegetables myself. I still find however, that fruit tastes nicer when atop a nice piece of cheescake or encased in a crusty pastry! This probably explains why I am about two stone overweight but - still looking good -I hasten to add! (positive attitude kicking in!).

As a forty something first time mum, I figure I need all the energy I can get and a good diet and exercise is part of that. Unfortunately, I am not as prolific with either one as I would like to be. Despite my new positive attitude, I am in pain at the moment and also struggling with the comfort eating thing. I am sure some of you out there can feel my pain! Still, I am persevering with the mind over matter theory, knowing this makes things better. What's the point of complaining all the time unless it's to someone who can help.

The eating things started off very well with my little man. He used to eat everything including spinach and broccoli but in the past few months he has become very fussy. He won't even eat nice things like flavoured jelly and he hates chocolate. If I give him green veg, he says 'don't wike gwass' (don't like grass) and if I give him anything with chocolate in it he says 'dutty' (dirty). I even gave him chocolate chip ice cream as a treat the other day but he proceeded to spit out all the bits! He doesn't take after his mother when it comes to chocolate, that's for sure.

At the moment he is living on egg, toast, yoghurt, crackers, cheese and ham. He will eat pasta the odd time but not if it's shells instead of squiggles. He drinks a lot of milk and water and he loves fresh orange juice with no pips. I am hoping he is getting enough nutrition from what he is eating and will resume eating normally at some point. Some books say if he doesn't eat what you put in front of him, to take it away and he will eat what he is given when he is hungry. Other books and sites say that it's important for him to be eating something so give him what he likes. I tend to do this as I don't want him going to bed hungry!

With a myriad of sites and information to choose from, it can all be a bit confusing. I may be a forty something mum but I am still a first time mum and still learning. I feel sometimes that because I am older, people are surprised that I don't know it all!

Wrinkles don't hurt!

There is always a lot to be thankful for, if you take the time to look. For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt. ~Author Unknown

Well, all I can say is that it's a blessing that wrinkles don't hurt! Because everything else does at the moment.

I don't think I can blame my aches and pains on the fact that I am a forty something first time mum as I know quite a few who are in pretty good shape! I think it's more the years of abuse I gave my body leading up to my forties. The overeating and partying lifestyle seemed like a good idea at the time but boy, am I paying for it now.

I suppose I am lucky that even though I was pregnant at the age of forty one, none of these ailments manifested until quite recently. I do think that my new positive attitude is helping me a lot though as I think in the past I would have just curled up in bed and cried. Also the fact that my little son makes me laugh every day is a big factor. Late motherhood doesn't come without its problems but with such a lovely child around, anything is bearable.